Steelers Chairman Dan Rooney resigned his position as ambassador to Ireland at the end of 2012. Only four months later, he and co-author Carol Peterson are coming out with a new book about the neighborhood in which he grew up: Pittsburgh's North Side.

Peterson had done a history of the Rooney home in the North Side several years ago. The collaboration went transatlantic for three years during Rooney's time as ambassador. The title of the book is "Allegheny City," which was what the region was from 1840, which it was incorporated, until 1907, which it was annexed by the city of Pittsburgh.

Advertisement

Rooney said,"It was the third largest city in Pennsylvania. It was Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Allegheny City was next."

Rooney said he and Peterson had some differences over content. She focused on the buildings themselves, and Rooney wanted to write about the stories of the people who lived in these grand houses. He tells one story about Harry Thaw, who owned the mansion that still stands, down the street from the Rooney house. Mr. Rooney says Thaw shot and killed renowned architect Stanford White in a jealous rage over a woman.

"Thaw got so angry that he went into a New York restaurant and shoots him, in front of everybody."

Brighton Road was another street in Allegheny City where wealthy industrialists built their homes. Rooney says that by the turn of the 20th century, a section of the city called Allegheny West had more millionaires than anywhere in the world.

Mr. Rooney admits that his fondness for the area is not why he and his father, Art Rooney, chose to build their new stadium, Three Rivers, on the North Shore.

"To be honest with you, it was a place where there was the land and the Pirates and Steelers agreed this was a good place for it."

Rooney is disappointed that that the North Side declined in recent decades. He says development chipped away at the large park, Allegheny Commons, and he says the building of Allegheny Center was a mistake.

But he believes all of the offices buildings, restaurants and ball parks revitalizing the North Shore can serve as a catalyst for more development in the North Side and restore the region to its old glory.